Kirkland & Ellis and White & Case secured the leading positions for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the automotive sector across Q1-Q3 2026 by deal value and volume, respectively, according to GlobalData, the parent company of Just Auto.
GlobalData’s Deals Database analysis showed Kirkland & Ellis advised on deals valued at $3.43bn, ranking first by value.
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Baker McKenzie placed second, advising on $3.37bn worth of deals.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison ranked third by value with $2.13bn, whilst CMS and Sullivan & Cromwell each advised on transactions valued at $1.83bn.
CMS took fourth place ahead of Sullivan & Cromwell by virtue of advising on six deals compared with Sullivan & Cromwell’s one.
In the volume league table, White & Case finished first after advising on ten deals.
CMS ranked second with six deals, followed by Weil, Gotshal & Manges with six deals covering $147m in value.
Kirkland & Ellis and DLA Piper each worked on five deals; Kirkland & Ellis placed fourth because of value, whilst DLA Piper’s value was not disclosed.
GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “White & Case was the only adviser to hit double-digit deal volume during Q1-Q3 2026. It was also the top adviser by volume during Q1-Q3 2025.
“Although Kirkland & Ellis advised on only half as many deals as White & Case, it led the chart by value during Q1-Q3 2026 due to its involvement in two billion-dollar deals.”
GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available in the secondary domain. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.
To ensure further robustness of the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals from leading advisers.
